USD Class of 2024

Same

has anyone heard of usd giving more scholarship money after appealing? I got 21k and really want to go but can’t when total is at 50k

@jf20201 I haven’t received mine in the mail yet.

Website is back up. No changes for my D. Still reads “Complete - Ready for review”. No new tabs, either.

Same

Same here

@user1130 Four years ago my daughter received more money after appealing.

At that time, we found that the OOS private schools she applied to gave her the max merit scholarship for their respective standard awards (i.e no separate application required). However at USD and LMU the scholarship amounts were less. When visiting LMU on admitted students day, we met with an admissions officer to discuss options for getting more aid. He suggested writing an appeal letter focusing on any updates since she submitted her application. In her case she was able to speak to getting strong grades 1st semester of her senior year including a couple of AP courses and a full-time summer job where she could develop leadership skills.

Following the advice, she submitted an appeal to LMU and followed the same advice for USD as well, both in mid-April. She heard back from both schools the week of the May 1 dealine. LMU declined the appeal. USD increased her merit offer to the Alcala scholarship ($25K/yr), but did not include an invitation to the honors program. She accepted at USD and is now a few months away from graduation and has had a great college experience.

There is definitely a chance of receiving more money with an appeal. I would emphasize any accomplishments since submitting your application and why you are interested in the school. I believe the decision will be based on how compelling your appeal is and whether scholarship funds are still available based on acceptances falling short of the target. In your case, I think the Alcala is the max you can hope for, which could give you an additional $4K/yr. If you do appeal, you may not hear back until close to the deadline.

Hope that helps.

Is it true that the later it gets the more likely you are to be declined?

I mean, I guess a little, technically speaking, because they admit all the highest stat people in the first week to prevent them from committing elsewhere, but after that, it is the normal kids, ie the majority of applicants. So just because you didn’t get admitted immediately doesn’t mean it is hard for you to get in at all and is certainly nothing to get worried about

@sunshuttle I don’t think anyone except USD admissions can say that USD admits the highest stat applicants in the first week. Applicants with high stats were admitted with merit scholarship at the end of March 2018 (‘22) WEEKS after lower stat applicants had acceptances in hand.

@mmadness what did you say in your appeal letter?

@8461student My daughter wrote the letter, so I don’t recall the specifics, but what I remember is that she described why she liked USD in general and for the major she was accepted and why she thought it was a good fit for her. She then asked them to re-evaluate the merit based aid and gave them the reasons based primarily on updates since she submitted the application.

I advised her to write a formal letter and emailing it in a doc/pdf that could be printed out if necessary, which is what she did.

@mmadness thank you for the quick reply? May I ask who all you emailed it to?

How often do they send out waves of decisions? I feel like it’s been a while since the last one

@8461student I don’t know if she mailed or emailed.

I found this link for USD Financial Aid.

https://www.sandiego.edu/financialaid/scholarships/

I would use the contact information at the bottom of the page and address it to USD Financial Aid Office Representative.

I read on here every Monday. But I’m not sure.

It appear’s D’s financial aid details are now up in the portal, although she never got an email about them. Under Financial Aid Status, there is now a link to Financial Aid Award.

Has anyone accepted their offer yet?

Fingers crossed that today’s the day!

@Doubtfuleyes13 Hopefully!! That would be amazing. I’m so excited.